To get so worked up about sleep?

I have 2 DC. Ds 7 and DD 5. We've always had a very set bedtime routine from when they were babies and they were always in bed by seven and asleep soon after. Now they're a bit older there is more activites on in the evening and sometimes they're later getting to bed. So I feel when we're at home all evening they need to get to bed early to catch up on their sleep.

But DS takes forever to fall asleep and I find myself getting quite worked up about it. He had a really busy weekend which involved a lot of travelling and lack of sleep. He then couldn't sleep Sunday night and had to be up at 630 for me to go to work on Monday morning. Told DH to put him to bed early while DD and I were out on Monday evening. Came home to find him still wide awake reading. He then wasn't asleep to after 9. Same tonight.

Am I stressing too much? Is after 9 every night normal for a 7 year old? I'd really just love him to get a few early nights when we're not out.

My ds is a night owl who will not sleep before 9-9.30. I used to get stressed about it but about 2 years ago I gave up and his bedtime has crept later until it's lights out at 9.30. He's not tired and he won't sleep earlier. Some kids just need less sleep! Stressing doesn't help

Sometimes they just don't need more sleep. How is he normally? Is he constantly tired or is he getting enough sleep for his body?

My 8yo is unusual, but doesn't fall asleep until around midnight and he's up at 5.15am every morning. He's been checked over by various docs, but he's fine. He doesn't fall asleep or feel tired at school. He's active, eats well etc. He just doesn't need as much sleep as the average kid. Which I guess to have an average someone needs to need less!

I have DS (7) and DD (5). I looked into this a while back and found the above chart as I too was concerned DS wasn't getting enough. I like him to be asleep by 7.30pm but he is often still awake at 8.30pm-9pm and wakes naturally somewhere between 6-6.30am. I've decided to just accept he doesn't need anymore sleep.

One problem I've had, is that my anxiety about him getting sufficient sleep has now rubbed off on him and maybe once or twice a month he appears at around 9.30pm upset and worried that he can't get to sleep, so will be tired the next day - a bit like an adult waking up at 4am and then watching the alarm clock getting increasingly anxious about not being able to get back to sleep. So I've tried to really step back from trying to insist he has more sleep than he needs.

I think 7pm bedtime is a very British thing. All my friends/colleagues assume I put DD to bed at 7! My DD is almost 3- bed is 8-830, up at 730 during the week. On holidays usually more like 9-930 bed, up 830-9. She's full of beans so she's obviously getting enough sleep. She's a night owl naturally and I presume that bedtime will get later naturally as she grows.

Just that people here seem to assume bedtime is 7pm. I've been told before that children need to go to bed at 7pm. There's nothing wrong with a 7pm bedtime; but there's nothing inherently wrong with a later bedtime either. My DD gets 11-12 hours sleep a night, if I bring her to bed earlier she just won't sleep. She doesn't need to get up earlier than 730 so it's not a problem going to bed later. Sometimes she has a nap in the day, sometimes she doesn't. She's not hyper, just a normal, active 2 year old.